Att värna om sig själv och andra : En kvalitativ studie om kursföreståndares syn på emotionell förberedelse av socionomstudenter

Sammanfattning: Studies have shown social work to be a demanding profession, where workers are at great risk suffering from burnout. Interventions to prevent burnout and build resilience in the upcoming workforce is therefore emphasized. The aim of this study has been to explore how educators view the need for social work students to be prepared for the emotional demands of social work. The study was carried out through eight semi-structured interviews. Eight course leaders working for Swedish social work programmes were interviewed. Results identified an expressed need for preparing social work students for the emotional requirements of social work. To what extent the education should be held responsible for this kind of preparation varied. Employers were also discussed as partly responsible for helping social workers handle the emotional component of their job. The course leaders expressed many possibilities in regards to incorporating emotional preparation into the social work programme, one of the most common being reflection. Difficulties were also discussed, where the most general issue for applying this kind of education was expressed as different priorities among course leaders. Further research should focus on developing and evaluating new methods to enhance emotional strength and resilience in social work students.